From the moment you spot the weaving car to the time you generate your report, MyFSTs gathers the data you need to make an arrest stand up

What is your signature product?
MyFSTs is a field sobriety test iPhone app built to assist officers with DUI investigations, from their first observations to an auto-generated arrest report and all of the field sobriety tests in-between.

It replaces the notepad officers use with an easy-to-use app that contains a series of tools to speed up the investigation and more accurately track the officer’s observations of impairment.

A screenshot of the MyFST app in action (Photo courtesy iTunes)

In the end the officer spends less time looking down writing notes and more time focusing on the subject in front of them.

Where did the idea come from?
I just knew there had to be a better, quicker, more efficient way of conducting these tests than writing on a notecard and then going back and transferring everything from the notecard onto a report.

How did that idea turn into a product?
I talked to some fellow officers, asked what they would like the app to do, then I hired a developer and he took all those ideas and put the app together.

How does it work?
An officer is on patrol and observes a violation he or she believes may be a sigh of alcohol intoxication, whether it be speed, an unsafe lane change, the inability to maintain the lane, etc.

The officer opens the app and is presented with a page that automatically logs the date, time and location of the first observations. The audio recorder begins recording the stop and the officer then has the ability to describe their first observations via voice or text. This is great for officers dealing with multiple DUI investigations/arrests per night and need to keep this information organized. Each recording is saved as a separate audio file, making it easy to differentiate one stop from the next.

The app automatically alerts the officer of the possible blood alcohol content of the subject when the appropriate number of clues are met (based on research by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration).

At the conclusion of the investigation, it organizes this information and automatically generates the field sobriety test portion of an arrest report.

How did you test it out?
The app has been available for download only a few weeks, but has been very well received by fellow officers and sergeants alike.

About the author

From mobile apps to tactical gear to the newest trends in police technology, For Cops, By Cops covers products that are designed and tested by current and former law enforcement officers for on-duty use. The features are designed to both help out our brothers and sisters in law enforcement with their businesses and keep the police community aware and up-to-date on the latest police products.